I am happy to announce that after 53 months, I AM STILL ALIVE!! Whoulda thunk?!
We stayed with Doc and Elvira (friends we met on a Costa Rica trip) the night before we flew out of St. Louis. We had a wonderful evening of laughs and super good Bosnian food......Doc made a comment.... He exclaimed to us "Maybe your paperwork has been lost in Heaven and God didn't get the memo....YOU'RE SUPPOSE TO BE DEAD!!" We had quite a few laughs over that one! Ever want to meet a family that is living the TRUE American dream...we are blessed to be their friends!!
We landed in Houston at 8:15 Monday morning and went straight to MD Anderson to get my blood work done...then begged the CT scan department to work me in as my scan wasn't until 5:30 start time. I was done at MD Anderson at 2:30 and spent a nice evening with Linda Burgener. It took us almost 2 hours to get to MD Anderson to collect the results of my blood work/scan, and see the eye dr. Blood work looks really good except the trial drug is making my triglycerides high so I am on a pill for it. My creatinine went from 1.14 to 1.04. That's a good thing but we will still keep a close eye on this.
I had a small area of concern on the last scan in the upper part of the liver that is now smaller. The aortal caval lymph node has slightly increased in size from 16 weeks ago but is still smaller than it initially was at the beginning of the trial (because it significantly shrank in the first eight weeks of the trial). Dr. Javle stated he was not concerned with the growth with the aortal caval lymph node and they were going to do more extensive measurements from the scan to make sure they are totally accurate. My CA 19-9 is STILL at 4 which is just so amazing! (0 - 35 is normal) All my liver function numbers are ALL within normal range. I have my left eye that is a little blurry but my eye doc says my pressure is good and it looks really dry...so we will try eye drops 4Xday and eye gel at night to see if that helps. I have also had a few toenails to fall off....but seriously, what do you need them for anyway!! :-)
I am AGAINST ALL ODDS with this disease....but so many other people are also defeating the odds. WHY, I ask, why are some of us defeating the odds and some are not. I don't have to "right" answer but I know for me, it all comes back to God. Always being right beside me...even in bad times. If you think my journey has been all roses and yellow brick roads, you've not read my blog all the way through! But I am thankful for each step, each 5K, each day I can walk with my grandchildren around the block...........
Thanking God for this cancer may seem "silly or stupid" to you who do not "get it" but I am thankful for it...and for making me realizing the good in every day, in every raindrop, in every person, in every step of my day. Thank you God!!
I wanted to of course mention the 2 week trip Pat and I took to Venice and the cruise along the Mediterranean Coast. It was a dream...or maybe a movie you only dream of seeing...but you truly are seeing it! It was so special EVERY DAY and something I will always carry in my heart. From experiencing The Parthenon in Athens, to visiting monasteries and nunneries, to just sitting at an outside cafe' drinking a latte or having an Italian pastry.....it was all a beautiful vacation.
We are sitting in the Hobby airport waiting on storms to pass and already have an hour delay. No complaining here....just adding another hour to my life. It's back to Illinois to corn fields, beans, and hay bales. There's festivals, 5K's and wiener roasts. It's life....my life. And it's a pretty good life to me!!
Thanks for all the thoughts & prayers.
Hugs~~
Patty Corcoran
